Addis College

Constriction safety signs and their interpretations

By: Dawit Melese

ID: 05/05/2006

February , 2016

The different types of signs look like, and what do they mean?
Mandatory Signs
Mandatory signs are used to imply that an action must be done, these include fire door must be
kept shut, safety footwear must be worn, safety helmets must be worn, ear protection must be
worn etc. These types of health and safety signs are normally circular and blue and white in
colour like the examples below.

Like the name implies, these health and safety signs are use to prohibit a person from carrying
out a certain action for example the no admittance safety sign is used to tell employees or
visitors that they should not go beyond a certain point. There signs are usually red and whitelike
the examples below.

Hazard Signs
Hazard signs are used to warn employees or visitors that a potential hazard is present, this
includes anything that can cause physical harm to a person. These types of health and safety
signs are triangular in shape and normally yellow and black like the examples below.

Safe Condition Signs

Safe condition signs are green and white signs which indicate an area or place of safety. These
can be fire exit signs, first aid signs, emergency eye wash station signs etc.

Stop, No Entry, No Smoking

These have a red circle with a cross bar on white background. Any lettering is black.
Meaning: DO NOT. YOU MUST NOT. STOP IT IF YOU ARE.

Warning Signs
Examples: Danger, High Voltage, Asbestos, Work Overhead
These have a solid yellow triangle (point up) with a black border. Any symbol or lettering is
also black on yellow.
Meaning: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, BE CAREFUL, BE AWARE.

Safe Condition Signs

Examples: Fire Exit, First Aid
These have a solid green square or oblong. White symbol or symbol and text.
Meaning: FOLLOW THIS SIGN TO REACH SAFETY.

Fire Equipment Signs

Examples: Fire Alarm, Hydrant, and Extinguisher.
These have a solid red rectangle with white symbols and/or lettering.
Meaning: HERE IS THE FIRE EQUIPMENT.

Safety signs are divided into categories according to the type of message they are intended to
convey. Each category is assigned a specific format and set of colours.
Prohibition Signs

These signs should he used to convey Do Not type commands For example, to indicate that
smoking is not allowed or that, where a particular material reacts dangerously with water or
water should not be used to extinguish a fire. In the workplace they should be used to reinforce
instructions prohibiting dangerous activities. Such instructions, however, should also form part of
the employees training. Signs prohibiting an activity consist of a circular red band and single
diagonal cross bar descending from left to right at an angle of 45 degrees. The background
should be white with the pictogram indicating the nature of the command in black.
Warning Signs

These signs should be used to make people aware of a nearby danger. For example, a
flammable liquid store or a laboratory where radioactive substances are in use should have an
appropriate warning sign near the entrance. These signs are required by the Health and Safety
(Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 and in specific cases by the Dangerous Substances
(Notification and Marking of Sites) Regulations 1990. Signs warning of a particular hazard consist
of a black band in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The background within the band should
be yellow with the pictogram indicating the type of hazard in black positioned centrally on the
sign.
Mandatory Signs

These signs should he used to indicate actions that must be carried out in order to comply with
statutory requirements. For example self-closing fire doors that must be kept closed to comply
with the fire risk assessment should be labeled with FIRE DOOR KEEP SHUT signs. An area of a
construction site where hard hats should be worn should also have appropriate signs at the entry
points. It should he noted that the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996
do not apply to mandatory fire instructions but do apply to health and safety mandatory signs
where pictograms are required. The minimum regulatory requirement is for the sign to include an
appropriate pictogram, There are no pictograms for fire safety instruction signs and although
mandatory in the UK through inclusion in the requirements of workplace fire assessments, such
signs are not considered as health and safety signs within these Regulations. Thus the familiar
white on blue fire safety mandatory signs using text only will remain in place and will not have to
be changed.
Fire instruction notices, that is notices which list actions that occupants must carry out in the
event of a fire are, by convention, written as white text on a blue background but not in the
circular format. The colours are used to convey the mandatory nature of the instructions but
because of the amount of text normally needed a rectangular format is used. The general
mandatory sign of a white exclamation mark on a blue circle may be used in conjunction with a
fire instructions notice.
Signs indicating mandatory requirements consist of a blue circle with the pictogram or text in
white positioned centrally.
Safe Condition Signs

These signs should he used to indicate escape routes, emergency exits, first aid equipment,
emergency showers and the like. Safe condition signs consist of a green rectangle or square
with the pictogram or text in white positioned centrally. In the same way as for mandatory signs
some UK fire safety signs in this category are not required by the Health and Safety (Safety Signs
and Signals) Regulations 1996. For example PUSH BAR TO OPEN is not required to comply and
there is no pictogram with that meaning. Such signs are still needed for compliance with other
UK legislation.

High-Visibility Safety Apparel

Class 1
Apparel consists of a basic harness or stripes/bands over the shoulder(s) and encircling
the waist. The center portion of the front torso band between the two vertical bands is
optional. See Figure 1 for examples of Class 1 apparel.

Workers in warehouse operations.

"Right-of-Way" or sidewalk maintenance workers.
Workers in shipping or receiving operations.

This sign shows that there is some repair/cleaning etc.being undertaken on the
road and labour is involved in it. People working on road need safety from the
traffic and hence this sign is erected before the site of repair on road. The driver
should drive slowly and carefully by diverting to ensure the safety of labour.

In hilly roads the rocks fall on road during landslides in extreme climates. This sign
shows that the road ahead is prone to such falling of rocks and driver should
drive carefully to avoid accident.